Random Observations – Part 10

Stop reading. This blog post isn’t for you. None of the Random Observations posts are. They’re mine! Bua-ha-ha-ha… Mine! Sure, you can read them if you really want, but I always worry that these posts come off as know-it-all advice.
The disclaimer

Now, I’m loud, opinionated, and perhaps even obnoxious at times. Frankly, I’m quite willing to live with that designation. What I’m less comfortable with is you thinking that I’m giving life advice. Frankly, I’m not a big fan of anyone telling anyone “what’s what.” My take is that we’re all struggling with something. Some of us are faring better than others, and a few of us are just luckier than the rest.

Me? I’m pretty happy with things as they stand, but I fuck up a whole lot more than I get things right. Meanwhile, I’d say that I’ve had some successes, but very few “home runs.” I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: These posts are my personal observations, as I work toward figuring things out. I write them down as reminders to myself. If you get something out of them, that’s just a bonus. :-)

91. Being insignificant

Remember that famous tag-line asks you to, “be all you can be”? What if it’s the wrong vector?

Should we instead be as “little” as we can? To take self-aggrandizing out of the equation, and instead find a way to be a part of this thing around us?

Perhaps we just need to watch, listen, and learn. This life is a funny one with strange rules and fleeting measures. Maybe we just need to concentrate on being better pupils, and let the chips fall where they may.

92. Waiting to be lucky

Some days you want to change everything, reset the deck, and do something bold, just because the things you’re doing now aren’t working. I’d ask yourself if maybe you’re doing the right things, but they just haven’t worked yet.

It’s not that one shouldn’t be contemplative of their circumstances; it’s just hard to know which moves are genius and which are wasted. Few (if any) really know, so perhaps you just need to keep at it. One of these days, you might turn out to have been “right” all along.

93. Ask if it’s a problem worth solving

Creative people enjoy their work so much that they often get caught up in the challenge before they ask whether it’s worth the time.

Could you design a better typewriter? Probably. It might be a waste of time, though, given the tools we now have.

94. Pick your goal

“Scoring” is difficult in the first place. Making four different goals concurrently should therefore be nearly impossible. If something is important to you, lock your sights on it and don’t let anything else get in your way.

95. Experience

The problem with intuition is that it’s often confused for lazy assumption.

96. Need less

Everyone’s after more, but that rarely solves anything. You want more money to get a new house that eventually gets filled with new crap, which all needs to be maintained… so you need even more money.

It’s a simple matter of input and output. If you need little, you can worry less (about “more”). This will afford you the time to make better stuff, have more fun, or, even choose work that satisfies you.

97. Passion and the long haul

Odds are your great idea isn’t as great as you think. That’s alright; it might still be a winner in the long run.

Before you start, though, try asking if you’re really passionate about doing this thing. If you are, it won’t bug you so much to work on it for a long time, which is often what’s required.

98. Let it go

Anger is easy, but it strains on you more than anyone else.

99. Even Oprah wasn’t “Oprah”

You think you aren’t good enough, famous enough, or recognized enough to become an icon for something.

This isn’t different for anyone; until they decide to simply do it.

100. Make it easy

At times you find yourself so intent on fighting to make something work that you fail to ask whether it’s worth fighting for.

Some of the best things in life are natural. They just work, without any real effort. (We tend to take these things for granted.)

It might be worth asking what’s “easy,” and doing that.

Want a little funny?

By the way… we’re getting ready to send out the second annual “Twelve Time-Sucks of Christmas.” If you want in on it, go to smashLAB.com and click on “Newsletter” to sign up for updates. (Curious? Take a look at last year’s.)

Number 93 is very relevant to me. Often when computing and programming and such ill spend hours working out some way to save myself 10 seconds it takes to do something manually. I usually realise at the end of the day how much time i wasted and I am pretty annoyed at myself.

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A collection of lengthy, opinionated, and generally unapologetic essays on design, brands, and experience.